Serial Bay Area copper thief gets 3 years

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Dennis McGuire of San Francisco became a poster boy for copper theft after he was accused of a string of high-profile Bay Area heists, only to be repeatedly freed from jail. But his luck ran out this week when he was sentenced to a stretch behind bars in connection with stealing something even more ubiquitous than metal: water.

Dennis McGuire

McGuire, 53, had been given a suspended sentence earlier this year for stealing more than $20,000 worth of copper wire from a U-Haul business in San Francisco and a Muni underground vault. In the latter case, he and a partner donned orange vests and blocked a street with cones.

But on Thursday, San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Collins gave him three years in jail after prosecutors said he violated the terms of his probation. Back in July, they said, he used pliers to open a neighbor’s spigot on the 4200 block of 24th Street in Noe Valley — McGuire’s utilities had been shut off — before filling up plastic containers with water. When a police officer responded, McGuire allegedly sped away on a motorcycle, prompting him to be arrested a few days later for evasion and unlicensed driving.

“Mr. McGuire has had numerous chances to get his life together,” said Assistant District Attorney Alex Bastian, an office spokesman. “At this point, enough is enough.” He added that McGuire had paid $13,000 to Muni and $7,000 to U-Haul as restitution.

It appears McGuire, who has a long record of theft and drug use, won’t be out anytime soon. He also faces charges including grand theft in San Mateo County, where prosecutors allege he cut copper cables from BART tracks late last year, even as trains zipped past him.

His punishment brought some relief to his former Noe Valley neighbors. Until recently, he had lived in a ramshackle house on an upscale block that was the subject of a campaign by neighbors to get the city to file a nuisance lawsuit. McGuire claimed to have inherited the home from a friend who died in 2010, but he owed more than $135,000 in property taxes.

He didn’t pay his utility bills, but still managed, neighbors said, to host a motley crew of guests with no apparent need for electricity or water. Before the incident with the spigot, neighbors said he had used a sledgehammer to blast through the sidewalk in an effort to restore water service.

Bastian said the house had recently sold, with the proceeds tied up in probate. Still, neighbors said McGuire’s friends apparently hadn’t gotten the message yet, as they showed up from time to time to knock on the door.